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I've thought a bit about this in our design and since the ground floor is pretty much one large space and is open to the stairs and thus second floor, a lot of sealing seems almost pointless for us beyond giving some extra time in bedrooms and bathroom I guess, and given that I cant see posi joists lasting 5 minutes in a fire, doubling up on detection and getting out seems to be the way to go (obviously in a home split into many sections there would be more delay in spread). But then I've laways had smoke/heat detectors in every single room of my house. They are so cheap why wouldn't you? I learned some firefighting in the military including fires at sea, but given the open plan of many new homes like ours will be, anything more than a minor one like a pan on fire and I'm outski! A misting system sounds attractive for "just" £2000 though, though no doubt it would go off in error as soon as the new floors were laid

The original question was about shutting down certain MVHR vents and turning on full boost in the event of a fire. We've drifted a bit from that so I think it would be useful to briefly summarise the thread for those who might find it in the future. It seems that best practice for what to do with an MVHR system in the event of a fire is still developing in the UK, presumably because building regs haven't yet caught up with the increasing use of such systems. One thing several posters seem to agree on is that MVHR inlets and outlets should ideally be closed when a fire is detected. There also appears to be some consensus that shutting off the MVHR in the event of a fire is useful. As far as anyone who posted on the thread knows, building regulations do not seem to require either of these actions to be taken, nor do they require full boost in the event of a fire as was mentioned as desirable in the original post. There also seems to be a consensus that getting people out should be the first priority where there is a fire. To help keep this information together, I note there's also a broader discussion of fire regulations (including some input in relation to MVHR) here: Many thanks

Another £20 for something I'll only use once

No special pipes are required, we have some installed just as a safety precaution becuase I brought a load of intumescent seals for the external cladding I went overboard when ordering fire protection stuff http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/products/intumescent_and_fire_control/intumescent_accessories/436/pyroplex_4_hour_pipe_closing_collar_stainless_steel/258507.

but on the topic of hard core for heavy use drive ways. i would probably go for 6-8" of 4" and down then 2-4" of 40mm-dust on top of that,

I'd rather avoid using membrane to be honest, considering the price I'll be paying for the hardcore I think I'd be better off just keep piling it on top, it's got to stop disappearing down at some point - sounds like one of those famous last words moments doesn't it!

Yeah, brilliant innit! And here's how he makes it. Cracking bloke

http://www.screwfix.com/p/adjustable-basin-wrench/14631?kpid=14631&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product Listing Ads-_-Sales Tracking-_-sales tracking url&gclid=CjwKEAjwz4u9BRCbioK3stnBznESJADA75xbgE1MRx7puJtgmUTBPuBWdeQLZiSC7Rq0V5DaUwEDlRoC2oTw_wcB Have you tried one of these? Still tricky, watch the skin on your knuckles

That's me set up for the day! Excellent! He does read my posts!

Manifold can be above the loop, but not below it. Eg, you can have your 1st floor manifold drop downstairs for a single or multiple loops without a single issue. I did a big job ( 100m2 ) Ufh downstairs and manifolds under the 2nd storey stairwell upstairs. Works perfectly with 8 loops going down. Air is the biggest problem so the vent on the manifold needs to be the high point. .

And welcome to the world of how BookFace tracks your browsing to "tailor" the suggested feed to your last sites you went to ..... I bet @Nickfromwales gets some cracking ones..!!

it does seem that way. we all make mistakes, its how you deal with them that makes the difference

You going to let on who is selling it, is it someone we know? Then I shall ask the committee to ban you for mentioning the M word. I think a lifetime ban would be appropriate

i have read with interest all of the thoughts on fire in buildings, with or without MVHR and how people seem to want to overcome this issue. Basically I can assure you that all you need to worry about is early detection and getting out of the building. People have mentioned using fire blankets and extinguishers as a means to preventing the fire getting worse and giving more time to evacuate. All I can say is that unless you have been trained to use either the blanket or extinguisher you are not only putting yourself at risk but can create a rescue situation when there would not have been one if you had just left the building. I am a retired Firefighter and if I had a penny for the amount of people who assured me they could use a fire blanket and when I asked them to show me they would have ended up in hospital with severe burns to their hands, Same goes for using an extinguisher, even with the best will in the world you can turn a small fire that could be contained by just shutting the door if you can safely and getting out of the building or seriously spreading the fire by mis direction/application of the extinguisher. The UK Fire service now use a portable fan to fight fires in buildings but the precautions they have to undertake to ensure that the fire is not spread around the building is quite an an art form. Basically they seal the doorway with a large fan placed externally and wait until a team of firefighters go inside to ascertain the room that contains the fire, close all doorways to other rooms, open the door to the room with the fire and create an opening usually by breaking a window in that room They must ensure they have a jet on the exterior of the building to stop fire spread up the outside of the building and then once all that is done they turn the fan on which dramatically reduces the heat in the building and pushes all the hot gases and smoke out of the window. The reason they do this is to make their working environment easier and aid any trapped people who might still be inside the building. As far as I can see what would be beneficial is for some sort of damper/ shutter that closed in the ceiling/wall vents so in the event of fire the MVHR trunking does not allow smoke/fire to travel to other rooms/floors and turn the MVHR off as you would not believe how fast a fire can travel if the only source of oxygen is coming from the MVHR unit, especially in a Passive house. I still think early detection is what you need to ensure to enable you to get out and always have a plan as to what you are going to do as a family in case of fire in the house.It is imperative that if you have young children then you understand who is getting the children from their bedroom (fires predominantly at night), who is calling the fire service and if you cannot get out what room you need to go to to enable you to maybe escape out of the window or make it easier for the fire service to rescue you. .

I fully agree, I have finished my workshop and my wife asked if the house was going to be as big ?

So lots of small steps being taking to drag us finally over the finish line and into the house (which to be honest if we had to we could have moved into at the start of the year, but someone wants everything done) But today's small step is a big milestone, completion certificate has been issued. So now chasing BuildZone for my structural warranty, which I need by the end of the month as by bridging loan runs out and I have to remortgage. Also aware that the issue of this certificate starts the clock on my VAT submission and all that entails!

I'd be expecting a discount from the warranty costs if they wanted to do that ..!!